Notebook: Dexter Recognizes Dexter Community Orchestra As ‘Local Community Charity’ For September Fundraiser

With official recognition as a local community charity the Dexter Community Orchestra has met the legal requirements for receiving a gaming license for a raffle at the Musical Taste of Dexter on Sept. 20.

The fundraising event will be held at the Knights of Columbus Hall from 2 to 6 p.m.

Now the DCO can apply with the State of Michigan for the required permit. The resolution from council was required because the DCO incorporated at 7676 Grand Street within city limits.

City Councilmembers have been tabling 2015 road project contract awards since meetings last month. Part of the work was awarded at the April 27 meeting, including $20,000 to crack seal roads by K & B and $326,050 for cape sealing to Highway Maintenance.

At the last meeting the council tabled changes to the road program, including $205,000 to Cadillac Asphalt for mill and overlay, $24,500 to OHM for engineering and oversight, and an additional $50,000 to Highway Maintenance for cape sealing Dexter-Ann Arbor Road.

City officials wanted to take more time to firm up more specific numbers on the costs of these pieces of the overall 2015 road project, since funding from the countywide road millage is tighter this year than expected. Typically these bid awards lean more in the direction of estimates than the numbers that council wants to ratify in this particular case.

The award of these bids must be finalized by July 1 — the beginning of the next fiscal year.

In keeping with the new City Charter of Dexter, city officials are required to adopt an ordinance that pertains to collection of taxes by the City Treasurer. This ordinance sets the timing, interest and penalties.

There will be a public hearing on June 8 at the outset of the 7:30 p.m. regular City Council meeting at the Dexter Senior Center. The ordinance will be adopted after this hearing during the June 22 meeting. These are opportunities for public feedback on these policies.

OHM’s work with Amtrak to obtain a “right to enter” permit for the Border to Border Trail project has finally come to fruition. Council swiftly and unanimously voted on a drastically lower disbursement of funds to the railway giant in the amount of $20,243, which was originally supposed to be $70,000.

According to City Manager Courtney Nicholls, the contractor proposed installing fencing along the right-of-way line first to reduce the amount of time that Amtrak personnel would have to be at the work site, which is where the bulk of the right to enter permit fee came from.

The city is issuing the funds from its capital improvements fund. The money has been placed into escrow until the work commences.

See the full agenda for the Monday May 26 Dexter City Council meeting below.